Lecture 08: People & Organisations London Metropolitan University MBA Programme || Module Number: MN7181 || Lecturer: Mr Laleen Katagodage || E-Soft batch-14-The Global Context for HRM

Global Context for HRM

 

There are a lot of people are talking about globalization, many of whom have strong and often conflicting views about the subject. Some authors see globalization as a rather positive thing in the meaning of the consumer society and benefit to shoppers of more things to buy and services to get in Western world. Other authors and many non-governmental organizations like Third World Network are much more critical, seeing globalization as colonization of the developing world. In words of Lee and Collins, (2005). Globalization is seen as a complicated process, focusing on how events, decisions and activities in one part of the world can have consequences in other parts of the world.

What is Globalization

The globalization is defined by Held, et al (1999). a process powered by, and resulting in, increasing cross-border flows of

• ·         Goods
• ·         Services
• ·         Money
• ·         People
• ·         Information
• ·         Culture

Sociologist Anthony Giddens (1990, p. 64, 1991, p. 21) proposes to regard globalization as a decoupling or “dissociation” between space and time,

While geographer David Harvey (1989) and political scientist James Mittelman (1996) observe that globalization entails a “compression” of space and time, a shrinking of the world.

Sociologist Manuel Castells (1996, p. 92) emphasizes the informational aspects of the global economy when he defines it as “an economy with the capacity to work as a unit in real time on a planetary scale.”

In a Simi-lar vein, sociologist Gary Gereffi (1994) writes about global “commodity chains,” where by production is coordinated on a global scale.

Management scholar Stephen Kobrin (1997, pp. 147–148) describes globalization as driven not by foreign trade and investment but by increasing technological scale and information flows.

The most common opinion of globalization is internationalization. "Global" is described as cross-border relations between countries, and "globalization" incomes a growth of international exchange and interdependence. "Globalization" is found in enlarged movements between countries of people, money, investments, deseases, pollutants, messages, ideas etc. (Scholte, 2005).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Globalization 

"List the advantages and disadvantages of globalization. List answers, not lengthy paragraphs, please." eNotes, 10 Nov. 2009,

Advantages	Disadvantages
· Increase in employment opportunities	·Environmental degradation
· Education	· Unfair working conditions
· Increase in free trade	· Fall in employment growth rate
· Faster flow of Information	· Growing disparity among the rich and the poor
· Increase in quality of goods and services	· Small scale industries face extinction
· Decrease in prices of goods and services	· Rapid spread of deadly diseases
· Reduction in cultural barriers

 (Cited with https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/list-advantages-disadvantages-globalization-list-113517. Accessed 20 Sep. 2018.)

Different streams and looks on Globalization

There are two branches of interest in globalization some are interested and some not i.e. the pro-globalization lobby argues that globalization brings about much increased opportunities for almost everyone, and increased competition is a good thing since it makes agents of production more efficient. But the other ones i.e. the anti-globalization group argues that certain groups of people who are deprived in terms of resources are not currently capable of functioning within the increased competitive pressure that will be brought about by allowing their economies to be more connected to the rest of the world (investor word, 2005). The results have enlarged profits for investors but offered pittances to laborers, provoking a strong backlash from civil society. This page analyzes economic globalization and examines how it might be resisted or regulated to promote sustainable development (Global Policy.org, 2005).

 The impact of globalization on HRM is as follows:

·         Managing Cultural Diversity

·         Managing Expatriates

·         Difference in the Employment Laws

·         Managing Outsourcing of employees.

·         Managing virtual employees

·         Corporate Social Responsibility

·         Coping with flexible working hours

·         Evolution of more part-time and temporary work (especially among women, the elderly and students

·         Coping up with emerging technologies & quality measures

·         Changing perspective from subordinates to business partners

Globalization in the contemporary

Industrial emergence of worldwide production markets and broader access to a range of foreign products for consumers and companies has increased a lot during the globalization process (Politzer, 2008).

Globalization and culture

Technology has now created the possibility and even the likelihood of a global culture. The Internet, fax machines, satellites, and cable TV are sweeping away cultural boundaries. Global entertainment companies shape the perceptions and dreams of ordinary citizens, wherever they live. This spread of values, norms, and culture tends to promote Western ideals of capitalism. Will local cultures inevitably fall victim to this global "consumer" culture? Will English eradicate all other languages? Will consumer values overwhelm peoples' sense of community and social solidarity? Or, on the contrary, will a common culture lead the way to greater shared values and political unity? This section looks at these and other issues of culture and globalization (Global Policy, 2009).

Dimension of IHRM:

According to Morgan, P.V (1986) IHRM is the interplay among 3 dimensions:

• ·        HR Activities
• ·        Types of employees
• ·        Types of Countries

Purpose of IHRM is to enable the firm /, the multinational corporations and companies to be a successful globally.

Conclusion

The global social justice movement, itself a product of globalization, proposes an alternative path, more responsive to public needs (Global Policy Forum, 2011). Advances in communication and transportation technology, combined with free market ideology, have given goods, services, and capital unprecedented mobility. The use international financial institutions and regional trade agreements to compel poor countries to "integrate" by reducing tariffs, privatizing state enterprises, and relaxing environmental and labor standards (Global Policy.org, 2005).

Reference:

Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell

Lee, K. and Collin, J. (2005). Global Change and Health. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Open University Press.

Giddens A. (1990). The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press

Giddens A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity. Cambridge, MA: Polit

Gereffi, G. (1994).  The organization of buyer-driven global commodity chains.  In Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism, ed. G Gereffi, M Korzeniewicz, pp. 95–122. West-ort, CT: Greenwood

Global Policy Forum, (2011), available online

Global Policy, 2009, globalization of culture, available online at: http://www.globalpolicy.org/globalization/globalization-of-culture.html

Global Policy.org, 2005, globalization of the economy. Available online at:

http://www.globalpolicy.org/globalization/globalization-of-the-economy-2-1.html

Harvey, D. (1989). The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Blackwell

Held, at all., (1999). Global   Transformations. Stanford,CA: Stanford Univ. Press

Kobrin, S.J. (1997).  The  architecture  of  globalization:  state  sovereignty  in  a  networked

global economy. In Governments, Globalization, and International Business, ed. JH Dunning, pp. 146–71. New York: Oxford Univ. Press

Mittelman, J.H. (1996).  The  dynamics  of  globalization. In Globalization: Critical Reflections, ed. J.H Mittelman, pp. 1–19. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner

Morgan,P.V, (1986) ‘International Human Resource Management: Fact or Fiction’, Personnel Administrator, Vol 31, No. 9 (1986), pp. 43–7.

Politzer, M. (2008) "China and Africa:  Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration".  By Malia

Politzer, Migration Information Source. August 2008.

Scholte, J.A. (2005). Globalization: a critical introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bibliographical Reference

Globalization in the 21st century: labor, capital, and the state on a world scale. Edited by Berch Berberoglu. (2010). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.